The CDSB Framework sets out an approach for reporting environmental information, natural capital and associated business impacts in mainstream reports, such as annual reports, 10-K filing, or integrated report.

The CDSB Framework was updated in April 2018 to align with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and other key mainstream reporting requirements, helping to streamline the reporting cycle for many organisations.

Through the provision of robust environmental information, CDSB hopes to encourage analysis and decision-making by investors that recognise the dependence and impacts of economic and financial stability on natural capital.

The objectives of the CDSB Framework are to:

Help companies translate their sustainability information into business impacts and long-term value;

Provide clear, concise and consistent information to investors, connecting the organisation's environmental performance to its overall strategy, performance and prospects;

Enable and encourage informed investor-decision making on the allocation of financial capital; and

Add value to an organisation's existing mainstream report, while minimising the reporting burden and simplifying the reporting process.

The development of the CDSB Framework has been overseen by the CDSB Technical Working Group, consisting of representatives from the largest accounting firms, reporting organisations, companies and academia.

Why we need a framework

Voluntary and mandatory reporting schemes on sustainability have multiplied, but there is no single standard about how companies should identify relevant information on natural capital and how users of such information can interpret it. As such, the information available is inconsistent and financial institutions are not taking account of environmental factors in their decision-making.

"As investors we find it instrumental to be able to evaluate and compare companies on their sustainability performance. The lack of a standard that creates alignment in the reporting of environmental & natural capital information makes it hard to do so. We hope that others will get behind the CDSB Framework for reporting environmental information & natural capital so that it can evolve to become the standard the investor community needs." – Marcos Mancini, Director of Sustainability, Banorte